Dad

Happy new year my friends, To thank all our loyal customers for another great year there will be free shipping on orders over $100.00 of Starquestparts. This goes for the entire site from bearings to cylinder heads. This runs from Jan 1- 2025 to Jan 15th- 2025 so get your list ready!. http://www.dadsengineparts.com Thank you! Dad

902 Old Dixie Hwy # 3, Lake Park, FL, United States, Florida Talk to Heron (561) 882-4000 ,

I have had rear differential gaskets reproduced for the Starquests, I also stock the axle seals and front pinion seals. You can get them at my site http://www.dadsengineparts.com Well I tried uploading a picture 48kb in size and get a message I can only upload file no more than 53.7 kb ?????

Good evening fellow enthusiasts, It was suggest ( i think it was Jimmy) that I should post and reintroduce myself to the group since so many things have changed here. I'm pretty sure there are some that know me but there may be others that don't. I got involved in the Starquest scene by My son ( screen name Kreal) in 2004, he had bought a Quest and had some issues with it and introduced me to the forums so I can help fix it using his account. I would use his account and just sign Dad when I posted anything. I had Started an Engine rebuild/ Machine shop in 1989 Doing work on mainly industrial and Truck engines ( cat, Cummins, Intl etc) There is more $$ in the diesel, although we did work on basically anything going down the road, Just the engines we didn't work on the equipment. So getting back to the forums, I would see at times questions or posts on head rebuilding or block boring- you know basic machine work, so I would chime in and help answer questions, Well you know how young kids on forums can be difficult, well my son misbehaved and got a suspension for I don't know maybe 10 days or something and they said Hey, you can't share accounts. Well Ok, I will make my own and was thinking of a screen name, well everyone knew me at the time as "Dad" so that became my screen name. As I got more into the forums and people found out I had a shop they asked if I could get parts? Sure, that's my business so we started to handle parts for these cars, My son totaled his in 2004 and had to part it to recoup some $$ and found a market for used parts, Dragging wrecked and rusted Quests to my shop. That is how I got my white Quest that I rebuilt and painted in 2007. My other son Bill took an interest and decided he wanted to restore one, He went full bore and I think his story might still be on the boards His name was Coldscrip. Anyway we supplied parts, And I even rebuilt engines for these from Florida to Maine and west to Missouri Our parts business was a good hobby- to be honest I made more selling a caterpillar overhaul kit than a quest kit, But meeting the Quest people was way more fun, As time went on we met more people mainly at Pidgeon forge meets, Our collection of running quests grew to 6 in the family, Sadly in 2020 my building I had leased got put up for sale- forcing me to relocate after 31 years in business, At 62 I said, nope not during this Covid mess, I'm not doing it, I quickly sold off the equipment and closed the doors, I needed room so sold My 87 Shetland and My 83 Starion. I did keep My first Quest the white 87. I took a few months off, added on my garage, took a parts job at a Navistar dealer then at a Chevrolet dealer. We kept in touch with our Quest friends and many kept asking if we would sell parts again ( We, meaning the Wife and I who was a big help in my business), So Her and I decided to start offering parts again and In January of 2023 we opened Dads Engine Parts LLC. I just recently retired but may find something part time to keep me busy. So here is my intro to the folks that may not know who we are. After 31 years in Machine shop business I made a lot of connections with suppliers and reconnected with many of them, Wiseco still make My custom forged pistons that I got licensing from Midwest turbo when they closed. My Oem Mitsubishi connections, although I know get more direct from Japan and of course my aftermarket suppliers. We still have 3 Quests in the family, I pretty much Use what I sell, just recently installed a fuel tank in My son's quest, Sourced out the fuel pump, Fuel feed lines, Filler tube hoses, Fuel drain plug ( took a few tries to find ones that seal well) so after documenting what I used I am able to offer those to the community saving tons of trial and error searching for what you need- That's what I'm about. We have been expanding our line as we go ( we are still trying to make room for parts) Unfortunately I no longer offer any type of machine work. So that in a nutshell is what Dads Engine parts ( Formerly Engine Machine service) is all about, I stick with what works like the same brand of timing kits and cylinder heads I was using 15 years ago as long as they aren't discontinued Been on this forum for 20 years now so if you need parts or some advice especially in the Engine part feel free to contact me. check out my site www.dadsengineparts.com Not sure if the mods need to move this I wasn't sure exactly where to put it so I put it here. Have a great day Dad ( Randy)

Welcome back! They always come back lol. I can't imagine life without a Quest. Dad

You need more than just the shafts, There is a front support housing for the upper shaft, some bolts etc. regardless I'm sure the parts can be found, I myself don't like the shafts, First thing you need to do is check if the rear bearings are in the block and they should be replaced since they can be an issue. not an easy task with engine in the car. The front cover and oil pan will need to be removed. If none of the conn rods were replaced and perhaps balanced, I would just run it, I have seen rod weights vary between engines up to 40 grams, T suspect that may be why some people get heavy vibrations, I don't even really notice any in my car, I prefer the higher oil pressure. Dad

The round ring gets pressed into the front upper balance shaft hole. it blocks off the oil passage down to the main bearing, you can use a bushing installer or flat plate just slam it in there flush, I always added some retaining compound because we had it there Just be sure it goes in straight and tight, You are now done with the upper shaft area, Take the stub shaft and slide it into the oil pump in place of the lower shaft, where the flats are clamp it into a vice ( be sure to leave clearance between back of oil pump and top of vice so the gasket surface doesn't get scratched, clean oil from threads and install the one bolt with some blue thread locker and torque it ( I think 45 lbs, whatever factory is for the bolt to balance shaft) Install your oil pump to block, take chain and both gears together and slide them into place, If I recall teeth on the small gear are to be closer to oil pump- don't pay attention to timing marks sonce there are no balance shafts, you can dummy them up to check alignment of the big and small gear, that's important. Once you figure direction install the woodruff key in oil pump, slide gears and chain together on crank and oil pump- BE SURE KEY DOES NOT FALL OUT! Next put a box end wrench on the other bolt, be sure no oil in oil pump threads, again blue threadlock on threads, deep well 6 point socket and tourque the bolt ( The box end wrench will spin up against your socket so you can torque it - I think a picture of that is on my facebook page. Hope this helps, Dad

Certainly won't have an issue with higher boost, it's way under the max of .031 I don't know how you squared them, iI would install a second ring on the piston and push a ring in with piston until installed ring sets on the deck, that helps square the ring you are checking in the hole. just a little off square will show a larger gap. Dad

In any build you need to check the gap, I always used factory specs on the gap just staying towards high side, sometimes you need to open it up, you will need to see. Forget checking oil rails as they are always over spec. Dad

I tried to fix my pictures but the file size limit restricted me, I have a website I can keep the pics on, can the picture be posted here so limits are bypassed? Dad

Tr- star radiator repairs them https://tristarrradiator.com/ Dad

I'm guilty for not posting much although I do get on almost daily, I can't stand the picture issue, I tried to update my rebuild post and resized pictures and still ran out of room and gave up. Dad

Great job!!! Dad

Lot of stuff has been added to the site https://www.enginemachineservice.com/ems/index.php

Closed the shop but not retired, I work full time at a dealership and the wife and I continue to offer parts for these, just changed the name. Dads Engine Parts LLC Dad

I do, Finish bore should be 3.607 ( that should help your machinist) Pistons Dad

89 should have the vin stamped in the back of block small pad under head, The head should be a jet valve hydraulic lifter head. Pistons if stock should have a 54 cast in top, check block deck close for cracks, off head bolt holes and water holes, have a machine shop Wet magnaflux it. Dad

If you want a complete head like that I can probably match that price, ( or close $525.00) might even be the same head. I don't push them since the exhaust valves are not stellite faced ( some companies will tell you they have turbo valves in them, but I suspect different due to the cost of the valves ) You will need to add Zinc cam break in additive to any of the heads and break in the cam at fast rpm- I don't like the solid cam pin, and have seen at times they are a bit short, barely getting into the distributor gear. OEM pin is a spring pin. My heads are China heads, same heads I have been using for over at least 12 years now. I suggest bare head and build up your head if it's in your budget. Dad

Wiseco pistons run about .003 clearance now so noise is no longer a factor. the turn around is the issue. I'm slowly getting them in stock ( have 020 at moment) I ran hyper pistons in my car from 2007-2019 slowly adding mods. 16g wheel, Trilogy injetors, walbro pump, GM maft translator eventually running 22 lbs of boost. When I tore it back apart I fount cracked piston ring lands in #3 cylinder, head cracked same cylinder between valves but did not leak coolant. Head gasket was perfect ( ran stock head bolts) Since then I have wiseco pistons, arp studs etc. The hyper pistons IMHO are fine for a stock build but if adding mods to increase HP they will eventually fail at least in these cars. Dad

I will add that we used one of those little plastic body push pins with a couple washers to fix the button on our pedals. just need to fit the hole. Most common problem why cruise quit working. Dad

Minimal vibration- UNLESS you are rebuilding and replaced a connecting rod, when I was offering rebuilt rod sets I would purchase 200 rod cores at a time, I found variances of up to 40 grams in weight. If you are running original rods you should be fine but if replacing one I suggest getting the set balanced. Dad

Well when you need parts I'm here. Dads Engine Parts. Dad

Since you said you tightened up the balance chain I suspect balance shaft bearing failure. That is what comes to mind first. The timing chain has some slack until oil pressure pushes out the tensioner. If indeed it's knocking you will do more damage by running it. Dad

Interested in what you used? I have to pull my dash because it's clogged somwhere in there.

Could toss some on my site. Dad